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Holiday Gifts

Now that Halloween is over and we are heading towards a holiday season.... As I'm trying to come up with gift ideas for my family and friends, I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask here what's on your "wants/needs" list.

I'm very simple minded, so I have just a "few" on my list. For instance...

coats and jackets
shoes/boots
rings and necklaces
apple desktop pc

enough of my list...

Thanks for sharing your "wants" and thus helping me to figure out gifts for my friends and family!

I'm guessing knives and stones will be on a lot of people's lists here...

i'm hoping my wife will buy me some clothes. i'm "terrible at picking things" (i.e., i pick for comfort, as i work in IT, and crawl under desks and in closets quite a bit, and she hates what the ensembles end up looking like, though they are all pretty basic khaki pants with button down shirts, so i'm not sure what the deal is), so i'm hoping she just buys me a bunch so i can quit hearing her complain.

I already know my main gift this year Found a copy of Ad Hoc and my wife grabbed it out of my hands and said I don't get it till Christmas.... bitter sweet... at least I know it's comming LOL I just want to read it ARRGGHH...

that's really nice and exciting! I suck at waiting to give or receive gifts... and I also suck at keeping something hidden/secret. on the other hand, i really think the joy of opening up gifts after a wait is something special

In my family, we enjoy giving gifts for Christmas, but we always kept the budgets very reasonable, especially now that my parents live on retirement income. And among most of my friends we have agreed since frugal student times to not exchange gifts except for maybe a small surprise or something for the kids. Since my parents and I really had a crappy year, I am trying to talk them into just skipping this year or keeping it to a minimum. I will not be able to keep my Mom from sending some homebaked cookies and the traditional German 'Stollen', and that would be more important to me than any other material gift. On Christmas Eve a very good friend will stay over for a night while on her way to Japan from the East Coast, and that is another great gift, in a way. Oh, and friends sent some Christmas chocolates and a family picture which also had special meaning: I am the godfather of the kids, and the dad almost died in an accident almost a year ago and is just now back to learning how to walk again. Mostly, I just want this crappy year to be over soon and the best gift would be a decent job in the new year, but most of those will not be decided on before Christmas, so that will take some time. - Sorry if this all sounds a bit frustrated, but that's what it is...

I have a few items on my list, and luckily my wife is great with selecting the right ones
This year I was told what I would get in advance from her, for practical reasons.
She has given me a 1 week trip to New York in January.
And as that is my favorite town to visit, that present will be very much appreciated

For my wife, a new pair of shoes is always welcome, so I figure a trip to her favorite shoe-designer (Christian Louboutin) while in NY would do the trick.
I swear, she is like Imelda Marcos

Basically though, we do focus on the kids mostly, so the grunt of the packages under our tree is for them!

In my family, we enjoy giving gifts for Christmas, but we always kept the budgets very reasonable, especially now that my parents live on retirement income. And among most of my friends we have agreed since frugal student times to not exchange gifts except for maybe a small surprise or something for the kids. Since my parents and I really had a crappy year, I am trying to talk them into just skipping this year or keeping it to a minimum. I will not be able to keep my Mom from sending some homebaked cookies and the traditional German 'Stollen', and that would be more important to me than any other material gift. On Christmas Eve a very good friend will stay over for a night while on her way to Japan from the East Coast, and that is another great gift, in a way. Oh, and friends sent some Christmas chocolates and a family picture which also had special meaning: I am the godfather of the kids, and the dad almost died in an accident almost a year ago and is just now back to learning how to walk again. Mostly, I just want this crappy year to be over soon and the best gift would be a decent job in the new year, but most of those will not be decided on before Christmas, so that will take some time. - Sorry if this all sounds a bit frustrated, but that's what it is...

Stefan

Your mom's homebaked cookies and the traditional stollen sound really great It's funny, but the best memories in the past holiday seasons with my family in Japan is all about the excitement of decorating a tree (my Dad used to cut one down from his backyard or random mountain) and eating a cake together. My Dad often got too excited about the holiday, or maybe he was trying to impress his two girls, and brought too massive of a tree that wouldn't fit in a room.... we struggled so much to cut the bottom of it ! We always had homemade fried chicken, gratin, garlic bread and cake... good times

One exciting thing is that there's a new tradition at my family in Japan - Santa Clause always place all the gifts inside my parents' wood kiln, and my niece and nephew go into the kiln to get their gifts... small gifts, but they really have so much fun

I agree that holiday season always bring families together especially emotionally, regardless of gifts. It's a tough time for a lot of people, but hopefully next year will be happier and better one !

I have a few items on my list, and luckily my wife is great with selecting the right ones
This year I was told what I would get in advance from her, for practical reasons.
She has given me a 1 week trip to New York in January.
And as that is my favorite town to visit, that present will be very much appreciated

For my wife, a new pair of shoes is always welcome, so I figure a trip to her favorite shoe-designer (Christian Louboutin) while in NY would do the trick.
I swear, she is like Imelda Marcos

Basically though, we do focus on the kids mostly, so the grunt of the packages under our tree is for them!

OMG You are such a nice husband! If Jon comes back home with Christian Loubtin shoes, I may actually think I'm day dreaming or something and pass out. I think I will get along with your wife really well (which will be a big trouble for you and Jon).

I will probably ask for a new sharpening stone, a Paul Smith scarf (I live up north), Modernist Cuisine at Home, a SousVide Demi, and either a class in charcuterie/sausage making by Polcyn or a fermentation workshop by Sanderkraut a.k.a. Sandor Ellix Katz (see my signature).

k.

There is a cult of ignorance in the United States...nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” -- Isaac Asimov